Transformational leadership and innovative work behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of self-construal (independent and interdependent) on the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB). Design/methodology/approach – A total of 639 followers and 87 leaders filled out questionnaires from cross-industry sample of five most innovative companies of China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relations. Findings – Results revealed that psychological empowerment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and IWB. The research established that transformational leadership positively influences IWB which includes idea generation as well as idea implementation. The results also showed that the relationship between transformational leadership and IWB was stronger among employees with a higher interdependent self-construal and a lower independent self-construal. Originality/value – This study adds to IWB literature by empirically testing the moderating role of self-construal and the mediating role of psychological empowerment on transformational leadership-IWB link.